UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 18, 2022
Siebert Financial Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
New York
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0-5703
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11-1796714
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(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
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(Commission File Number)
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(IRS Employer Identification Number)
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535 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY
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10017
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(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code)
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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 644-2400
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
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Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended
to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant
under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2.
below):
☐ Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities
Act
☐ Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act
☐ Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange
Act
☐ Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange
Act
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
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Trading Symbol(s)
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Name of each exchange on which registered
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Common Stock - $0.01 par value
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SIEB
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The Nasdaq Capital Market
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth
company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933
(§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the
registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period
for complying with any new or revised financial accounting
standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
☐
Item 1.01 Entry into a Material
Definitive Agreement
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or
Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain
Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On
October 18, 2022, the Company entered into a Reorganization
Agreement (“Reorganization Agreement”) with Tigress Holdings, LLC,
a limited liability company organized under the laws of Delaware
(“Tigress Holdings”), whereby the Company exchanged seven percent
(7%) of the outstanding membership interests in Tigress Holdings
for all of Tigress Holdings’ ownership interest in the Company’s
subsidiary RISE Financial Services, LLC, a limited liability
company organized under the laws of Delaware (“RISE”). The Company
intends to sell its remaining interest in Tigress Holdings,
representing seventeen percent (17%) of the outstanding membership
interests in Tigress Holdings, to Gloria E. Gebbia for a
consideration to be determined subject to an independent fairness
opinion. Gloria E. Gebbia is a director and controlling shareholder
of the Company.
Pursuant
to the Reorganization Agreement, Cynthia DiBartolo, the Chief
Executive Officer and controlling owner of Tigress Holdings, will
resign from her position as Chief Executive Officer and board
member of RISE and will not stand for re-election to the Company’s
board of directors.
Concurrent
with the Reorganization Agreement, RISE entered into a Termination
Agreement (“Termination Agreement”) with Hedge Connection, Inc., a
corporation organized under the laws of Florida (“Hedge
Connection”), and its Chief Executive Officer and principal
shareholder, Lisa Vioni. Pursuant to the Termination Agreement, the
parties terminated the Purchase Agreement, dated January 21, 2022,
by and among the parties. Under the terms of the Termination
Agreement, the Company will re-convey to Hedge Connection, Hedge
Connection common stock representing twenty percent (20%) of Hedge
Connection and the related option from Ms. Vioni to acquire 100% of
Ms. Vioni’s remaining interest in Hedge Connection.
The
Termination Agreement also terminates the Hedge Connection
technology license agreement, and terminates a voting agreement
with Ms. Vioni providing the Company with the right to appoint one
director to the board of directors of Hedge Connection. Pursuant to
the Termination Agreement, Ms. Vioni will resign from her position
from the Board of Directors of RISE, as well as the President of
RISE Prime – Capital Introduction, a division of RISE.
Under
the Termination Agreement, Ms. Vioni shall become a registered
representative of the broker-dealer subsidiary of Tigress Holdings,
Tigress Financial Partners, LLC, a limited liability company
organized under the laws of Delaware (“Tigress Financial”), and
RISE shall assign to Tigress Financial prospective prime brokerage
customers of RISE who were solicited by RISE from January 1, 2022
through the closing date of the Reorganization Agreement. In
exchange, Tigress Financial will split revenue with RISE on certain
customers pursuant to the Reorganization Agreement.
As of
the date of this Current Report, the Company is assessing the
financial impact of these transactions which may result in a
material one-time charge to the Company’s financial
statements.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and
Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit
No.
Description of
Exhibit
104
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Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded with Inline XBRL
document).
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10-26
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Reorganization Agreement By
and Among Tigress Holdings, LLC, Rise Financial Services, LLC, and
Siebert Financial Corp. dated October 18, 2022
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10-27
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Termination Agreement By and Among Hedge
Connection, Inc., Lisa Vioni, Rise Financial Services, LLC, and
Siebert Financial Corp., dated October 18, 2022
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to
be signed on its behalf by the undersigned
thereunto duly authorized.
Dated: October 21, 2022
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SIEBERT FINANCIAL CORP.
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By
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/s/ Andrew H. Reich
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Andrew H. Reich
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Executive Vice President, Chief Operating
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Officer, Chief Financial Officer,
Secretary
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and Director (Principal executive,
financial
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and accounting officer)
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